Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on CF Industries (NYSE:CF)

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 9,109 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 64% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,547 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CF shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of CF Industries in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on shares of CF Industries from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of CF Industries in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of CF Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $99.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of CF Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $87.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CF Industries news, EVP Bert A. Frost sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $510,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,442,550. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CF Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $193,145,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of CF Industries by 101.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,014,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $342,026,000 after acquiring an additional 2,017,325 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in CF Industries by 221.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,825,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $204,793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,947,268 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new position in CF Industries in the third quarter worth $160,475,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in CF Industries by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,213,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $447,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

CF Industries Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CF opened at $79.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.03. CF Industries has a 52-week low of $60.08 and a 52-week high of $87.90. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 3.44 and a current ratio of 3.81.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.12). CF Industries had a return on equity of 18.44% and a net margin of 23.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.35 earnings per share. CF Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that CF Industries will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. CF Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.51%.

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other segments.